This book provides an in-depth analysis of the election of the Hong Kong Legislative Council in May 1998, which was the first general election in Hong Kong since the change of sovereignty to China in 1997. The election was conducted in the wake of the government's mismanagement of health policy and other aspects of public concern and amid widespread hardships inflicted by the Asian financial crisis. Nevertheless, the election still had the highest turnout rate in Hong Kong's entire history. The elected legislature replaced the Provisional Legislative Council, which was a product of...

Hong Kong's Legislative Council Elections have been riddled with difficulties. The first, partial elections introduced in 1991 were tainted by the traumatic memories of the events of June 4, 1989. The elections of 1995 bore the marks of the bitter Sino-British controversies over Hong Kong's political reforms. As a result of the derailed "through train," the first general election after the change of sovereignty to China in 1997 produced a two-year successor to the Provisional Legislative Council, which in turn was troubled by the Asian Financial Crisis. In light of this, the...